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[cool][size 2]I was going back through some of my photo archives and came across the attached picture. Those are walleyes, but the lake in the background is not generally known as a walleye water.[/size]
[size 2]Anybody care to guess the name of the lake and how the walleyes got there?[/size]
[size 2]Hint, the lake is in Utah and is better known these days for tiger muskies.[/size]
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Nice walleye TD, are you saying Pinview use to have walleye in it? What year was that? WH2
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[cool][size 2]The pic was taken in the early 80s...BTM (before tiger muskies). It's part of a fun story. [/size]
[size 2]Pat Milburn and I hit Willard at "Oh-dark-thirty" to bang some post spawn walleyes around the south marina. We didn't even get out tubes fifty feet around the rocks at the inlet before we both had limits (then) of two walleyes over 20". It was still dark. See the attached pic of a walleye with a 3" yellow plastic (red head) in its kisser.[/size]
[size 2]After releasing several more, we decided to go back to the vehicle and run up to Pineview for some crappie and largemouth. Yes, they were thick in Pineview then. We put our walleyes on ice and did the daily double.[/size]
[size 2]We got a few crappies early and then the sun came out and got warm. Mr. Milburn had a nap attack and kicked back into some grass along the edge for a snooze. I captured the moment with a pic I entitled "Milburn in the Bulrushes".[/size]
[size 2]We loaded up the vehicle and then decided to shoot a couple of pics of the walleyes. As I held mine up a car came screeching to a halt, throwing gravel. The guy inside freaked out when he saw the "pike". It was hard to convince him that they were "imports". I don't think he believed us when we told him that we hadn't caught them there.[/size]
[size 2]To the best of my knowledge, there have never been any walleyes LEGALLY introduced into Pineview. However, I wouldn't bet against the "bucket brigade" having tried it a time or two.[/size]
[size 2]Thanks for playing.[/size]
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Good story TD, I've lived in Utah since 76 and had never heard any stories of walleye in Pineview so I thought it must have been before that date. Is the Pat you were fishing with the same Pat that use to fish with Doug Miller? The Pat I'm talking about use to work for Angler's Inn. WH2
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[cool][size 2]Same one. I used to refer to him as "Flash" Milburn...after he flashed himself in the face with my camera on one night trip. He then flashed me a couple of times, too, so that I could enjoy seeing spots before my eyes on the drive back to Salt Lake.[/size]
[size 2]He did work at Anglers, in Sandy. I lived in Murray, and we ganged up on a whole lotta fish together. Here's a couple more pics from the archives.[/size]
[size 2]By the way, the one at Lincoln was a "setup". He was snagged and wanted to get an "action" shot. Made it look good.[/size]
[size 2]By the way, WH2, did you know Greg Jonas, who worked at the Ogden store for Anglers? I have a lot of great shots with him in them too...including some of 5# to 10# browns we got the first year Deer Creek opened to ice fishing...using my then new Perch Urchins.[/size]
[size 2]Those who knew Greg probably also know he was drowned while swimming after his boat on Deer Creek, during an early season walleye trip. A great personal loss to me, and to Utah's angling community.[/size]
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Tube Dude,
Pat looks so young in those pics. What is he going to do now anglers inn is closed? I am soory for the loss of your friend Jonas. A while back you sent me a pic of a guy on the ice at Deer Creek with a large brown was that him?
PS - I am like the artist prince. I was formally known as PescadorUtah ,but I cant get my password and I don't remember it.
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No, I did not know Greg,(Sorry about the passing of your friend), the only reason I ask about Pat was he use to put on the Perch Party at Pineview with Doug Miller and I met him there. WH2
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[cool][size 2]Hey, pescador, have you PMed one of the mods for the Utah board. There have been some upgrades and tweaks that have left a few folks with difficulties getting back in. They might be able to retrieve and reactivate your old ID.[/size]
[size 2]Why wouldn't Pat Milburn look young in those pics? Man, that was twenty years ago. Even I looked younger and skinnier then. Not anything like the old dude that glares at me out the mirror these days. That younger guy sometimes writes checks on my body that can't be cashed. Know what I mean, Vern?[/size]
[size 2]I do recall sending at least one pic of Greg. Here are some more, for anyone else who might have known him...and a couple of closeups of some perch-munchin' browns.[/size]
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Hey TubeDude!
Man, those are some SWEET pants[  ]
Those were some nice lookin 'eyes as well. I'll bet they tasted good.
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Ha ha, I love those old pictures of the way it used to be in the olden days. Glory days is what I call the 70's and 80's.
Did you ever know a guy by the last name Schoemig? (Can't remember his first name.) He is a hard-core walleye angler, he frequents Yuba and other walleye haunts...
His son claims that his father was the first to discover walleye fishing in Utah back in the late 60's or early 70's. From what I hear, Schoemig is a legend back then. (He passed away about five or six years ago.)
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I PMed BLM and he sent me to the Angler and we are waiting I hope to get it resolved soon. Thanks for the pics. Those were the ones that I was thinking about. I know when I go I will be remembered by those who knew me for my love of fishing.
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[  ] Hey Tube, So you know Pat also hu ?? I knew him back in the 70's when
he was at the 9400 south 700 east anglers inn. He was the one that talked
me into hanging my bass in there. I never had the chance to fish with him.
he had quite angers a couple of times over the years I knew him, I seen him
last year in one of the outdoor shows at the xpo center. he was a sales rep.
for some company, (can't remember) but he's doing ok.
Oh, by the way, nice eye there !!
later chuck
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[cool][size 2]Got a couple of comments on this thread after I signed off last night. I'll try to cover the issues in one post.[/size]
[size 2]Theekillerbee: Don't be dissin' my pants. My mama dresses me funny, but the fishies don't seem to mind. Actually, I have lots of old pics with me wearing pants bought by a former spouse who had no sense of style. At least I got some good out of them. And, yes, those 'eyes tasted good. I have always liked walleyes better than almost any other fish...at least on the table. Now if they only had a "jumping gene".[/size]
[size 2]glassyeyedPaul: Here are some more "old pics" from the "glory days". I first lived in Utah in the early sixties, while attending BYU in Provo. My transportation was a three speed bicycle, that I rode back and forth to Utah Lake about twice a day. In one pic you can see that walleyes were already "discovered". Problem was, most of the "pike" fishermen snagged them. I caught them on my hand-tied streamers, and later on jigs and crawlers. I caught and ate walleyes then that would have been state records for many years. I returned to Utah on business in the mid 70's, and found that there were few of the troutaholics chasing walleyes, bass and other warmwater fish. The limits were still generous and I often kept the six fish walleye limit from Utah Lake and Willard, since few others were even fishing for them. Sorry, never knew your friend.[/size]
[size 2]UtWalleye: We have discussed the early walleye fishing in Utah before. I know you were one of the early pioneers in catching them on lures and baits. Too bad the snaggers forced the closure of the lower Provo during the spring run. Also too bad what has happened to all of our favorite walleye waters...due to drought and excessive harvest.[/size]
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Man those are some nice walleyes!!! I would definitely enjoy eating some like those. What has happened to the walleye population. I havent seen or heard of quanities of quality walleyes anywhere in this state. But every once in awhile I have seen a large one caught.
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[cool][size 2]I do not claim to have the definitive answer, but I do know a lot of the questions. What it boils down to, on most walleye waters, is the combination of available forage and sustained harvest. The more they have to eat...and the less they are abused...the more there will be and the bigger they will get.[/size]
[size 2]Utah Lake was the first Utah water to have walleyes. It is shallower, muddier and gets warmer than typical walleye waters in the midwest. But, it had an overabundance of stunted white bass...just the right size for walleye fodder. [/size]
[size 2]In the early days, nobody fished much either for the whities or the wallies. Even the heavy snagging activity during the spawning runs wasn't enough to greatly affect the walleye population. After the spawn, walleyes were seldom caught, except by accident, by folks soaking bait for catfish or casting lures for whites or largies. Nobody knew enough to target them throughout the year.[/size]
[size 2]When I returned to Utah in the late 70's, I had more years of experience and more knowledge of walleyes. I used these to find and catch huge numbers of walleyes in Utah Lake, without ever seeing anyone else even fishing for them. I enjoyed days of over 50 fish, at several different locations around the lake. And, it was rare that I caught any under three or four pounds...with five or six pounds being about average. And, the ones I caught were almost always fat...often containing recently consumed white bass, bluegill or mudcats.[/size]
[size 2]The attached pic is poor quality, but shows how fat some non-spawning 'eyes got. This one I got in American Fork Boat Harbor, around the first of November one year, while jigging for white bass. It had the tails of two white bass sticking out of its throat, and the guy that did the resin cast mount for me said the body cavity was full of fat...not eggs.[/size]
[size 2]My point? Since those days, there has been almost unrestricted harvest of white bass by "subsistence" fishermen. Some of the growing populations of people from cultures who eat more fish than we do have greatly reduced the biomass of the forage species that walleyes need to grow big and strong. That's also why many of the walleyes taken these days are much skinnier. [/size]
[size 2]For a time after the spring spawn, Walleyes can gorge on the fry of white bass, bluegill, crappies, perch, largemouth, carp, mudcats and others. But, once these youngsters grow too large for easy snacking, the food supply gets more scarce.[/size]
[size 2]Utah lake is an enigma. By all rights, walleyes should never live there. It is too shallow and the water quality is way below what they are able to tolerate elsewhere. If you clean out their cupboards too, then they are really in trouble. Look at what happened in Yuba, when the perch population crashed.[/size]
[size 2]It would be great if DWR could finally find some kind of forage base that was cheap and easy to successfully introduce into Utah Lake. But, like the walleye, most forage species usually require much more favorable conditions to survive and prosper. As I understand it, many forage species have been tried, with nary a single capture of a surviving member ever found afterward.[/size]
[size 2]Walleyes are not the prettiest fish. Nor do they fight very well, in most cases. They offer two big attractions. First, they can be tough to catch (legally). Second, there ain't any fish more toothsome on the table. [/size]
[size 2]I don't know why I have always been such a walleye fan, but it breaks my heart to see them where they are today in Utah ...especially after having experienced the fantastic fishing they once provided.[/size]
[size 2]I can guarantee there are still plenty of bigguns. Once they get large enough to eat the larger prey species, they continue to grow without as much competition. The trick is to find them and get them to munch your puny little jig, when they are looking for a "half pounder".[/size]
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WOW! I would have loved to join you, but alas I wasn't even born yet. In fact, I bet my parents were only barely pushing puberty. :-)
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[cool][size 2]Hey, guy, you really know how to make a guy feel old. Pushing puberty is one thing. Dragging senility is quite another. But, I can't remember why.[/size]
[size 2]If you can keep a secret, I have sneaked back up there a few times and the same tackle and techniques that used to work...still do. Some Utah anglers have read too many copies of the In Fisherman...and watched too much Al Lindner. The walleyes in Utah don't follow that stuff so they just keep on keepin' on. [/size]
[size 2]The numbers have declined, but the techniques still work...and for the big fish too. The main problem is that it is tough to find a good spot that is not overrun with folks who are harvesting...not just fishing. Once you hang a big one, you are likely to be covered with a spiderweb of lines...cast over your tube by "sportsmen" who want to share in your "luck". And, if you release a fish you are likely to have to fight your way back to the shoreline...for being so inconsiderate that you won't give (or sell) your fish to others.[/size]
[size 2]The last time I fished Lincoln Beach, it was almost as bad as fishing the "hog lines" on one of the salmon rivers of the northwest. It was what I would call "full contact" fishing. Not my idea of idyllic angling.[/size]
[size 2]The good news is that there are several areas around Utah lake that see good concentrations of feeding walleyes during the post spawn periods...mid May to early July. If you can find the fish, you can still have good days...and nights.[/size]
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